December 26, 2016 – Violence Against Nurses

Anchor lead: Violence against nurses on the job has increased, Elizabeth Tracey reports

The last decade has seen an over 100% increase in violence against nurses on the job, US Labor Department statistics reveal. Ron Langlotz, director of nursing for the department of medicine at Johns Hopkins, says solving the problem comes with recognition of the cause.

Langlotz: The number one solution is to provide the services from a mental health perspective that these patients require. And I think that Johns Hopkins Medicine is doing a really good job of trying to provide that service. One thing that we’ve done within the department of medicine is we’ve created a pysch service where they round on every single patient that either could have a substance abuse issue or a mental health issue, and that way we can identify their needs earlier than later. :27

Langlotz says that when a patient becomes frustrated, either because they can’t communicate their needs or their needs go unanswered, violence can result, so heading those circumstances off before they occur is key. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.